Ariosoma balearicum
Bandtooth Conger
Collection Details
Specimens
Photos
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Records
Taxonomic Hierarchy
Actinopterygii (Ray-finned Fishes)
Anguilliformes (True Eels)
Congridae (Conger Eels)
Ariosoma
Ariosoma balearicum (Bandtooth Conger)
Description
This species account was compiled from
Composite (multiple sources) (McEachran, J.D. and J.D. Fechhelm. Fishes of the Gulf of Mexico. University of Texas Press, Austin.)
and processed using AI-assisted text extraction.
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Characters
Moderately elongate with a reduced, blunt, stiff tail. Snout rounded and projects slightly beyond lower jaw. Upper and lower lips have well-developed flanges. Anterior nostril tubular and near tip of snout, posterior nostril small and slightly below midheight of eye. Jaw teeth small and in bands. Intermaxillary tooth patch not separated from maxillary teeth and about as broad as it is long. Vomerine tooth patch elongate, extending to about midlength of maxillary tooth band, and slightly separated from intermaxillary tooth patch. Infraorbital pores 8, supraorbital pores 5-6, supratemporal pores 3. Snout 19-25%, eye 16-24%, mouth length 26-32% of head length. Head length 15-19%, predorsal length 15-19%, preanal length 45-49% of TL. Gill openings shorter than interbranchial space. Anus slightly anterior to midlength. Branchiostegal rays 7-10, pectoral fin rays 10, lateral line pores to anus 46-52. Total vertebrae 120-136, predorsal vertebrae 7-10, preanal vertebrae 49-54, precaudal vertebrae 62-66.
Brown with dark-edged vertical fins. In life, lower flank light brown with silvery or golden reflections. Stomach and intestines pale.
Distribution
Western Atlantic from North Carolina to northern Brazil, including the Gulf of Mexico, the Caribbean Sea, and Bermuda.
Habitat Associations
Continental shelf, from the surface to 732 m
Sandy bottoms
Biology
Maximum known size is 336 mm TL
Found on the shelf, littoral, burrowing in galleries on sandy mud bottoms. Carnivorous. (Ref. 6521).
IUCN Red List Status: Least Concern (LC), assessed 2014-10-21. Resilience: High (Preliminary K or Fecundity.).
Commercial or Environmental Importance
Fisheries: minor commercial.
References
C. R. Robins et al. 1986
Smith 1989f,k
Boschung 1992
Bauchot, M.-L. (1987) Poissons osseux. p. 891-1421. In W. Fischer, M.L. Bauchot and M. Schneider (eds.) Fiches FAO d'identification pour les besoins de la pêche. (rev. 1). Méditerranée et mer Noire. Zone de pêche 37. Vol. II. Commission des Communautés Européennes and FAO, Rome.
Smith, D.G. (1990) Congridae. p. 156-167. In J.C. Quero, J.C. Hureau, C. Karrer, A. Post and L. Saldanha (eds.) Check-list of the fishes of the eastern tropical Atlantic (CLOFETA). JNICT, Lisbon; SEI, Paris; and UNESCO, Paris. Vol. 1.
Bauchot, M.-L. and L. Saldanha (1986) Congridae (including Heterocongridae). p. 567-574. In P.J.P. Whitehead, M.-L. Bauchot, J.-C. Hureau, J. Nielsen and E. Tortonese (eds.) Fishes of the north-eastern Atlantic and the Mediterranean. volume 2. UNESCO, Paris.
Sanches, J.G. (1991) Catálogo dos principais peixes marinhos da República de Guiné-Bissau. Publ. Avuls. Inst. Nac. Invest. Pescas 16:429 p.
Comments On Ariosoma balearicum